World top ten airlines all from Asia and Oceania

By Steve Collins, on November 28th, 2010

The Skytrax 2010 Airline of the Year Awards have been announced, and all of the top ten airlines are based in either Asia or Oceania – with no airline from Europe, North or South America or Africa being among the best in the world.

These awards are also known as The Passenger’s Choice Awards, because they are voted upon by airline passengers, based on the type of comfort, services and airline punctuality they experience. And it is not the views of just a few people that are counted. 17.9 million passengers from over 100 nationalities participated in the awards, so they give a fair idea about what is good, and bad, with the world’s airlines.

The most votes for the world’s best airline went to Asiana Airlines of Korea. Asiana is a member of the Star Alliance and offers 516 daily departures throughout Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.

Second place went to Singapore Airlines, an airline that is consistently counted to be among the world’s best.

Qatar Airways came in third. Qatar Airways Company operates a hub and spoke network, linking over 90 international destinations from its base in Doha, using a fleet of 84 aircraft, and has one of the youngest fleets in the world.

Fourth was the Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance.

Air New Zealand came in at fifth place, and this airline is currently revolutionising passenger seating and entertainment to market itself as being substantially different from the cattle class normally offered by the no frills airlines.

The flag carrier airline of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Etihad ( which means ‘union’ in Arabic) was voted in at number 6. The airline operates close to 147 daily flights to 64 destinations in 42 countries, via a fleet of 57 aircraft, and is very popular with First and Business Class passengers because of the opulence of its seating and cabins.

Qantas was next at no.7. The Australian airline, the world’s second-oldest continuing operating airline, with a reputation for being the world’s safest airline. Qantas has had some problems recently because of the Rolls Royce engines on its A380 aircraft, but the A380s are now flying again. Qantas has a reputation for the down-to-earth friendliness of its cabin crew and their seemingly laid back efficiency.

The largest airline in the Middle East, Emirates, comes in at number 8. Emirates operates over 2,400 passenger flights per week, from its hub at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3, to 105 cities in 62 countries across six continents. There is a virulent competition between Emirates and its close neighbours Etihad and Qatar Airways to be the world’s best airline, which guarantees that the standards of each of them are very good.

Thai Airways was adjudged to the world’s ninth best airline. Thai flies to 71 destinations in 34 countries, using a fleet of 98 aircraft.

Coming in at no.10 was Malaysian Airlines. It is one of only six airlines to be given a 5-star status airline by Skytrax (the other 5 are Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines of India).

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